Participants

The Wharton Behavioral Laboratory (WBL) provides a variety of services that support data collection for behavioral research on business-related topics. The primary goal is to enhance the research productivity of Wharton faculty by minimizing the operational costs, both time and money, of conducting research. The primary services provided are maintaining and updating facilities, recruiting participants, handling administrative tasks, and staffing for a state-of-the-art experimental research laboratory that is a shared asset for all faculty and students doing behavioral research. It contributes to Wharton’s reputation for excellence in academic research and enhances Penn’s ability to attract and retain the very best scholars.

In the basement of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, to the right of Joe’s Cafe.

Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, Suite 400

3620 Locust Walk

Philadelphia, PA 19104

The WBL runs a large variety of studies. Most on-campus studies involve the use of a desktop computer and a questionnaire. Since the pandemic, we have been seeing an influx of more interactive and complex studies as researchers come up with innovative ideas. The WBL has also added a new feature, remote sessions, in which we send a survey or Zoom link directly to you. While the specific details of the studies are not available on our website once posted, you will be informed about the type of study and asked to give consent prior to each.

Studies can involve group work, conversations, negotiations, eating/drinking, estimations, presentations, heart-rate variability, EEG, facial expression analysis, and much, much more!

Anyone who is 18 years of age or older and has a valid photo I.D.

Payment is based on the length of the study. Participants qualify for payment if they have submitted a W-8/W9 tax form with a social security number. A participant must submit a tax form to receive payment. Participants are paid via Virtual ClinCard at a rate of $15.00/hour for on-campus studies and $2 to $6 for remote studies.

As a participant you must agree to the following responsibilities.

1. You must have only one account. If you would like to change your email, please alert the lab admin or email WBLcontact@wharton.upenn.edu. Those with multiple accounts will be suspended. Those creating multiple accounts to get around banning or screening will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and will be automatically banned from future participation in the lab.
2. You can do a given study only once.
3. You must arrive on time to your appointment. Sessions begin 5 minutes after the established start time.
4. If you cannot make your appointment, you must cancel your scheduled session. Please contact WBLcontact@wharton.upenn.edu if you need help cancelling your session.
5. Give the experiments complete attention. Users caught cheating, not following instructions, or otherwise not completing their assigned studies will be suspended and prohibited from further participation.
6. Fill out the W8/W9 accurately. Those falsifying information will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and will be automatically banned from future participation in the lab.

The quickest and easiest way to contact us is by email, WBLcontact@wharton.upenn.edu

We understand that life happens. Please log into your account and cancel your participation. If it is too close to the session start-time to cancel, please email WBLcontact@wharton.upenn.edu and let us know. Please note that excessive no-shows and/or cancellations will result in account suspension.

Please be aware that many of our studies need specific types of participants (e.g., women only) and most studies cannot use people who have previously participated in similar studies. Therefore, not everyone qualifies for all of our studies. It is important to keep your profile updated and accurate at all times to ensure you are in the correct demographic. The Sona Prescreen questions determine your eligibility.

All of the studies run in the lab are approved by the Office of Regulatory Affairs, the Institutional Review Board. The mission of the IRB is:

• To promote the rights and welfare of human research participants
• To facilitate excellence in human research by providing timely and high quality review of human research
• To provide professional guidance and support to the research community